'Airstrikes increase IS recruitment'

As the UK Parliament prepares to vote on a motion (the text of which is below) to allow the British air forces to start bombing IS sites in Iraq, MEE spoke to John Rees, a national officer with the UK-based Stop the War Coalition. 

The UK joining in airstrikes will make things "suddenly and rapidly worse," Rees said.

"The Americans have been bombing for months now, and that doesn't seem to have improved the situation at all.

"The idea that the tiny UK contribution of more bombing would make any difference is simply not credible.

"All the evidence points to the fact that, as a result of US bombing, recruitment to IS has risen dramatically."

Should the UK join in with the bombing campaign, Rees says, it will be in "greater danger of revenge attacks.

"The Defence Secretary said in the debate that we are looking at a matter of years for this campaign, and the Prime Minister said he would only consult the House of Commons even if the bombing were extended to Syria after the event.

"This mission is creeping even before it has got started."